Summer Games Done Quick has begun&excl; Time to go fast

Are you ready for six days of marathon speedrunning for a good cause? Summer Games Done Quick has begun, and it's packed with just that: going fast in the name of charity.

The Games Done Quick marathons take place twice a year, with one in winter (Awesome Games Done Quick) and one in summer (Summer Games Done Quick). Both events are packed with prolific games and speedrunners small and large in fanbase to not only entertain, but to raise money toward worthy causes.

This Summer Games Done Quick is benefiting Doctors Without Borders, which provides medical aid in conflict and crisis areas worldwide.

Games to go fast to

Going fast is the name of the game in the GDQs, and this SGDQ's lineup is just spectacular. Below a brief summary of the types of games being run each day this week. Do be sure to read through the official schedule to look for games or runners you're interested in watching.

Sunday, July 26th

Trihex's Yoshi's Island run is starting things off, followed by some super hype Sonic, Donkey Kong, and Crash Bandicoot runs.

Monday, July 27th

Early morning hosts some Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 2, with most of the rest of the day featuring some classic Disney games and prolific classic platformers. The Tetris: The Grand Master exhibitions will begin around 7:40PM EST. If the exhibitions at AGDQ were anything to go off of, these are a must-watch.

Tuesday, July 28th

The day to watch if you're a Metroid Prime fan. Bioshock Infinite and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel being run in the very early morning, with NES-era games being run in the middle of the day. A good amount of Mega Man X and Castlevania being played the second half of the day.

Wednesday, July 29th

Early morning starts with some popular indie titles and Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. The Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep FM HD run begins early in the morning, and is followed by some Kirby titles and a SEGA block. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, The Legend of Zelda (using no sword), and Earthbound are all highlights in the second half of the day.

Thursday, July 30th

Thursday is pretty varied, with two Touhou titles in the morning, and some real treats in the afternoon into late at night. Hosts a Castlevania block, a Mega Man block, Halo 3, and a Nintendo 64 block at the end of the evening that continues into super early Friday morning.

Friday, July 31st

Starts the morning of with Banjo-Tooie and Donkey Kong 64 and goes into a varied medley of modern and classic games up until the indie game block in the early afternoon. Dustforce DX, I Wanna be the Boshy, and Binding of Isaac: Rebirth are some of the highlights during that block. The rest of the afternoon and evening are dedicated to Nintendo titles from the NES to Wii era.

Saturday, August 1st

Starts with a hype Pokemon Blue blindfold run, followed by Pokemon Puzzle League and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Shadow of the Colossus starts at 8:15AM EST, and a Minecraft run at 10:20 EST. Saturday has a fair amount of tool-assisted runs in the afternoon and things are wrapped up with another Nintendo block. A co-op Chrono Trigger run will be wrapping things up.

The above doesn't even come close to mentioning all the games being run at SGDQ this week. As mentioned above, be sure to check out the full schedule to see if there are any games you want to see done fast for a good cause. And don't forget: GET HYPE.

I've been playing games since '89&comma; and arcade-style games are my jam&period; I've played over 400 hours of Risk of Rain&period; Favorite Final Fantasy is 12&period; Rhythm games and roguelikes&sol;lites are life&period;